Tango Time Machine — Tango Decoder

I've featured photos of this unique Buenos Aires apartment building (top and middle) in several posts, but I never realized that the building is a direct architectural quotation, instantly recognizable to anyone who knows Palermo, Italy. Scroll down to see the courtyard and facade of the Royal Palace, Palermo, Italy (bottom). I just happened to see it on the net. The proportions are quite different, but the resemblance is startling!

(The Buenos Aires palace is in Montserrat, on the Avenida Entre Ríos, at the numbers shown.)

Don Osvaldo Pugliese with the jazz band called Marahuana. September 16, 1944. The two acts are divided to make it clear that Pugliese recorded for Discos Odeon, and Marahuana didn't.

Miguel Caló with two new songs on Odeon Records. El Mundo Dance Guide, 29 April 1944. 

Text reads: "Miguel Caló and his Orquesta Típica in a new hit BOHARDILLA, tango R. Blasi [and] H. Sanguinetti; LA VI LLEGAR tango E. M. Francini [and] J. Centeya. Recorded on Discos Odeon. Disc No. 8387."

Oddly it doesn't mention the singer, Raúl Iriarte.

Note the Odeon Records logo, upper left. This was one of its first appearances in the El Mundo Dance Guide.

A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN RAN AWAY FROM HOME

...because they wouldn't let her go to the carnaval dances at "My Club." Thanks to the timely intervention of EMILIO ORLANDO and VICTOR D'AMARIO and their orchestras, who kindly hurried to her aid, they succeeded in getting her back home again, but with the promise that she would return every night of carnaval to "My Club," on the arm of her sweetheart. Since she was afraid she might lose her way, she asked for it and they gave her a card that read like so:

"MI CLUB" - Moreno 2967, the best of carnaval 

12 December 1942. Seminal bandoneonist, bandleader, and composer Pedro Maffia was very active with his own orchestra throughout 1942 and '43. The Tibidabo nightclub was a regular gig. Large ads like this often appeared on the page preceding or following the Dance Guide.

"By that time [Buenos Aires, 1942], it was common for performances of live music to enliven the evening and nighttime soirees in a sort of continuum of tango and jazz: "la típica y la jazz". More complementary than rivals, orchestras and bands would race from here to there, always against the clock, along a route that might start with a recording session at midday, continue with performances at a centrally located dance hall, and end at a radio station or some nightspot. There were also tours of the interior as well as the summer season, with the massive migration of orchestras to the coastal areas: Mar del Plata was the most frequent port of call--there [jazz guitarist] Oscar [Alemán] had his artistic routines, interrupted only when he traveled to Brazil or Uruguay--especially from 1946 on, with the flurry of social and recreational programs inspired by Peronism.

"In any case, social dance was the most popular, well-attended activity. There were dances everywhere, but especially at the social and sports clubs in the barrios and in the nightclubs in the city center. From Thursday to Sunday there were numerous opportunities to dance, but even in the first days of the week one could find places in which to try out new steps or simply hang out in groups of couples or in a familiar setting." (from Oscar Alemán, La guitarra embrujada, Editorial Planeta, Buenos Aires 2015, p. 182)

El Mundo, 5 May 1944.
Original source: Tango Decoder

"Oscar used to leave the Gong [jazz club] very late and go walking with his guitar along the Calle Florida toward the pension on Calle Suipacha where [his girlfriend] Carmen lived. She'd wake up whistling Hombre mío ("My Man"). Then she'd go out to eat with him minutes before Sibarita's kitchen closed. Sometimes they'd come across D'Arienzo and Troilo, who were regulars at the same restaurant." (ibid., p. 206)

[Translated by Tango Decoder]

El Turco bailando con rubia. Obelisco Tango, Buenos Aires, April 2015. Photo Copyright © by Michael Krugman, 2015. All Rights Reserved.

A couple of months ago, Tango Decoder featured a 1945 ad for the "Surcos del Disco" milonga with the headline "QUE ME QUITEN LO BAILAO," which means literally, "let them take away what I've danced," and figuratively, "they can't take away the dances/fun I've had." At the time, one of TD's commenters suggested I translate the song by the same name. I never got around to it.

Yesterday a friend of mine, a composer, had one of those big-number birthdays yesterday, and his friends threw a grand garden party for him. I wanted to do something nice to honor him, and I happened to think again of the song, which turned out to be nearly perfect for him. He's not a drinker and a gambler like the narrator, but he's definitely taken some risks in his life, he's an avid milonguero. I did a quick adaptation of the lyrics and bingo, I had the perfect tanguero's tribute, which I read aloud for all assembled. It was a hit! "Que me quiten lo bailao!"

Here's my English version of the lyric followed by the original Spanish as given by TodoTango.com. There are a bunch of vids down there, too--Tanturi's version of the song with Castillo; Canaro's with Carlos Roldán; and D'Arienzo's with Laborde; and Leopoldo Federico's with Julio Sosa. The lyrics are sightly different in each one. Canaro's version was recorded first, in '42, and the lyrics are quite close to the text. Tanturi's was recorded on 29 April 1943, and its lyrics differ considerably. They may have been affected in advance by the Law of Good Speech that came into force with the military coup of 4 June. It seems that quite a few orchestras self-censored in anticipation of the new rules which were circulated in advance of the decree. If anyone is interested in compiling the precise differences between the various versions, let me know. Maybe we can collaborate!

QUE ME QUITEN LO BAILAO
(They can't take away the fun I've had)
Tango, 1942
Words and music by Miguel Bucino
TD's English-language version dedicated to Nadama Novak.

Generous to men, affectionate with women,
I’ve got two wild passions: gambling and champagne.
Obsession with the milonga, fierce love of pleasure,
sometimes I’m a big shot and other times I’m broke.
What am I to do, brother? If it’s the gift of destiny!
If my eagerness to get rich has never been my strong suit!*
Bubbles and women’s eyes have driven me wild
ever since those sweet days of my youth.

But I don’t regret
letting go of all that dough
that I wasted in life.*
I had everything I wanted...
and even enjoyed a few things
that I prefer not to discuss.
My behavior was always calm,
I was lavish with praise
and shrunk from blame.
I was a tycoon and a vagabond
and now I leave so much to the world
that I can make a joke about it.*

If some refused my hand, others were more cordial,
some lips were sweet, others tasted of gall,
but I always had the guts to weather the storm
and like a wolf among the foxes, I left my mark.
What am I to do, brother, if I was born to die broke,
with a tango on my lips and a handful of lousy cards?
I play, I sing, I drink, I laugh...
and though I haven’t got a penny to my name,
when the bell tolls the final hour... They can't take away what I've danced!
They can’t take away the fun I've had!

NOTES:

* my eagerness to get rich: el afán de hacer el paco. None of the recorded versions include the lunfardism, el paco, meaning "silver" and by extension, "money."

* letting go of all that dough that I wasted in life: haber dado curso al vento
que en la vida derroché. All the recorded versions of the song give this line as aquellos lindos momentos que en la vida disfruté, "those beautiful moments that I enjoyed in my life."

* I leave so much to the world that I can make a joke about it: The narrator is being ruefully ironic.

Mano abierta con los hombres, querendón con las mujeres,
tengo dos pasiones bravas: el tapete y el champán...
Berretín con la milonga, metejón con los placeres,
unas veces ando pato y otras veces soy bacán.
¿Qué querés que le haga, hermano? ¡Si es regalo del destino!
¡Si el afán de hacer el paco nunca ha sido mi virtud!
Me electrizan las burbujas y los ojos femeninos
¡desde aquellos dulces días de mi alegre juventud!

Pero yo no me arrepiento
de haber dado curso al vento
que en la vida derroché.
Tuve todo lo que quise...
y hasta lo que yo no quiero
la cuestión que disfruté.
Mi conducta fue serena,
yo fui pródigo en la buena
y en la mala me encogí.
Fui magnate y vagabundo
y hoy lo sobré tanto al mundo
que le puedo dar changüí.

Si unas manos me fallaron, otras fueron más cordiales,
unos labios fueron dulces, otras veces como hiel,
pero siempre tuve agallas pa' capear los temporales
y de lobo, entre los zorros, al pasar hice cartel.
Qué querés que le haga, hermano, si nací pa' morir pobre,
con un tango entre los labios y en un tute entreverao.
Juego, canto, bebo, río...
y aunque no me quede un cobre,
al sonar la última hora... ¡que me quiten lo bailao!

FROM OUR "WOMEN'S VOICES, WOMEN'S LIVES" COLLECTION

Here's a followup to the Libertad Lamarque song, Loca, that we explored last week. This time, we hear from another much-loved Argentine songbird, Tita Merello, with her performance of the song Arrabalera from the 1951 film by the same name....

More songs from our "Women's Voices, Women's Lives" Collection:

ARRABALERO • CASCABELITO • ISABELITA • LA PIBA DE LOS JASMINES • LOCA • DECILE QUE VUELVA • MONEDA DE COBRE • MUÑECA BRAVA

The narrator of Arrabalera has a powerful message to deliver. She wants us to know that she's a strong woman who's not afraid to express herself freely, and she's very proud of her roots, her status in her community, and her tango-dancing ability! At the same time, it seems she's a bit lonely, since she has yet to find her romantic counterpart. But she hasn't given up....not at all!

Of Merello, Matthew Karush has written, "Among the most iconic stars of the Perón era was Tita Merello, who typically played a humble woman from a poor neighborhood who refuses to submit to male authority. Her characters do not transgress traditional gender roles--they are often hyper-protective mothers--but they do stand up to alcoholic, profligate, or abusive husbands. Moreover, in her successful career as a tango-singer, Merello created a distinctive persona that did upend gender expectations. Her low voice and her habit of combining singing with talking evoked a more masculine tango style. Even more unusual, she described herself as ugly, thereby explicitly rejecting the stratagem of the milonguita who gets ahead by virtue of attracting men.... The working-class pride asserted by Merello's characters is very much in the tradition created by such stars as Carlos Gardel, Luis Sandrini, and Nini Marshall, even if she tended to express that pride more cynically." (Culture of Class: Radio and Cinema in the Making of a Divided Argentina, 1920-1946, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2012. Pp. 191-192.)

As our regular readers will certainly know, the word arrabal describes the outlying areas of Buenos Aires where, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, working people, many of them recent immigrants or people of color, lived in crowded, unsanitary living conditions with muddy streets and plenty of violence. But even so, many, many tangos speak longingly of the arrabal.

An arrabalera, then, is nothing more than a girl or woman of the arrabal. But the song's punchy music and lyrics, Merello's witty delivery, and a surprisingly funky backing band make it clear that this arrabalera is a whole lot more. In fact, the narrator accords herself a kind of royal status, presenting herself as a veritable "princess of the arrabal". To me the effect, though comical, is quite compelling. See what you think.

Face-to-face text in Spanish and English follow the video. Engish-language version by Michael Krugman.

ARRABALERA (Arrabal gal)*
Tango, 1950
Music: Sebastián Piana
Lyrics: Cátulo Castillo

* Arrabal gal: Arrabalera. The word arrabal describes the outlying areas of Buenos Aires where, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, working people, many of them recent immigrants or people of color, lived in crowded, unsanitary living conditions with muddy streets and plenty of violence. But even so, many, many tangos speak lovingly and longingly of the arrabal.

* Chiclana: A reference to the Avenida Chiclana area in the Buenos Aires barrio of Boedo. As Carlos Gardel sang, “Sos de Chiclana, no hay nada que hacer, tu pedigré es del más puro arrabal...” [“You’re from Chiclana, there’s nothing more to say, your lineage is the purest of the arrabal....”] (Sos de Chiclana, 1927). A street in the present-day neighborhood is named after Cátullo Castillo, the author of this lyric.

* not afraid to brag: Compadrón is a Lunfardo word meaning a braggart or a loudmouth. Thus the phrase, "yo soy propia hermana entera de Chiclana y compadrón!..." literally means "I'm a proper full-sister of Chiclana (see previous note), and a braggart/loudmouth."

* lousy: arrespe, Lunf., extravagant, badly made, defective.

* by gosh: la gran siete. An all-purpose expletive, of uncertain origin.